Paper Crafts
by Airi Tsukino
Summary: A Fairy Tail Café AU story where in the small town of Magnolia, a large café exists where there was once the estate of the very rich Vermillion family. That's where Fairy Tail Café is. The café's employee's are rude, forgetful, and often start fights, but it is a booming business. Rated T for mild language.
1. May I Get You Anything To Drink?

A young woman sat at her desk, writing furiously on a blank piece of paper. Her blonde bangs had been irritating her, getting in her eyes and such, so she clipped them back onto her head with a small, blue hair clip. Her light blue sleeves sat rolled up to her elbows because, very much like her bangs, they had been getting in the woman's way and had been seen as a nuisance that needed to be dealt with. Her pencil would not stop moving across the page until she reached the very bottom, after putting down her pencil, the woman sat back and surveyed her work before promptly crumpling it up tossing it into an ever growing pile of paper in the trash. Plucking a new page from the stack next to her, the woman wore her pencil nib down small, writing page after page only to be dissatisfied with her work and throw it away.

At last, she sat back and nodded gently as she read her words, taking the clip out of her hair and pushing her sleeves back down. The woman carefully folded the paper up, along with another, and put them inside a large envelope. Just as she was sealing it, a soft tapping on the window made her jump. Looking over, she saw a pink-haired man standing out on the fire escape, grinning like an idiot. The woman nodded, letting him know he was acknowledged before putting the now sealed envelope in the top drawer of her desk.

Walking over to the window, the woman unlatched it and stepped out onto the fire escape, small goosebumps forming where her arms were bare due to a strong breeze that had just blown by. She look at the man who stood alongside her, confusion written on her face, "Natsu, are you okay?" she asked, "Most of the time you just barge in, not even announcing yourself, much less knocking."

"The window was locked!" The young man, Natsu, defended himself, crossing his arms over his almost bare chest.

The woman raised an eyebrow, "That never stopped you before!" Before he could rebuke, she changed the topic, "Why are you here anyway?"

Now it was Natsu's turn to look at her in confusion, "It's 3. I'm picking you up for your afternoon shift, like I always do, Lucy. Are you sure you're okay?"

Lucy looked back into her apartment, her eyes searching for the clock, when they settled on the them, she swore softly, "Shit, it is 3. I must have been so caught up in writing..." She trailed off, looking at Natsu, "I'll be back in a moment. Just gotta get ready."

Lucy jumped back into her apartment, taking her bangs out of their clip and unrolling her sleeves. Opening her dresser, she pulled out her uniform and folded it neatly into the bottom of her bag. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Lucy had started climbing out the window when she realized something, grabbing Natsu's hand, she pulled him into her apartment and closed her window. Lucy marched Natsu up to her front door and shoved him out into the hallway.

"We might as well leave out the front door." Lucy said, locking the door to her apartment as she walked down the stairs, Natsu following behind her.

The two young adults talked and laughed their whole way to work until they stopped in front of the building. 'Fairy Tail Café' was written in large letters above the gate. Fairy Tail Café has been in business for several decades. The current building is Fairy Tail's founder's, Mavis Vermilion, estate. All four floors are currently in use. The basement is a bar and lounge where you can play pool and bet on Grand Games teams. The first floor is the main café complete with a small stage while the second floor is more a gourmet restaurant. The third and final floor is a ballroom that can be rented out for parties. Fairy Tail is a booming business with over 100 employees, or at least it used to be. Seven years ago, it's current owner, Makarov Dreyar, and several key employee disappeared, stranded on an island after a boat crash for six and a half years and then had taken six months to recuperate. When the employees went missing, Fairy Tail became bankrupt and they had to abandon Vermilion's estate and move into a smaller building. Only recently, after they entered a partnership with Sabertooth Co., were they able to buy back the estate and reclaim their former glory.

Natsu and Lucy avoided the people dining on the lawn and walked into the back entrance. As they entered the kitchen, everybody erupted into "Hi Lucy. Hi Natsu."

Well, almost everybody. The employee who had transferred over from Sabertooth stayed silent as they continued about their work.

Natsu tied on his apron and grabbed a spatula before promptly pointing it at a young man with spiky black hair and proclaiming, "Gray! I challenge you to a cook-off!"

Gray pulled off his apron, where he was shirtless beneath and was about to reply, when the head chef, Erza, smacked both of their heads with a cupcake tin she had just finished cleaning.

"No cook-offs during customer hours. You two know that." She simply stated before going back to cleaning the dishes.

Gray and Natsu calmed down and went back to work as Lucy went into the girl's changing room and changed into her uniform. Coming back out, she grabbed her notepad and her pen before twirling out of the kitchen. As she swung the swinging door open, she made a little 'eep' noise to see a fellow waiter just about to push the doors open, a large stack of dishes piled on his arms.

"I-I'm so sorry, Rogue." Lucy squeaked as she ducked her head and made her way into the café.

Rogue remained impassive as he walked into the kitchen, "Table 17 is waiting for service."

However, Sting, Rouge's best friend, could not stay silent as he carried dishes alongside the red-eyed boy, "Rouge! How could you not be mad at the little Fairy?! You know we can just snap our fingers and Mr. Jiemma will make that stupid Makarov fire them! Sabertooth has the power to do that to stupid little Fairies!"

Lucy glared up at the Fairy Tail intruders, Sting and Rogue, two employees from Sabertooth, "I'm sorry, your highness." She said, poison honey dripping from her voice, "I just got in so I wasn't aware that you two were out on the field."

Sting was about reply before Lucy scuttled past them into the café. After he set down the dishes he had been carrying, he and Rogue went out back to take their break.

"Ah, I can't stand that slut!" Sting cried, punching his fist against the brick wall, "I actually can't stand any of these fucking Fairies! How can you put up with them, Rogue?!"

Rogue looked up at his friend and simply shrugged his shoulders.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief that nothing too serious had gone on and that no dishes were broken. Now she could just sink herself into her work and forget about those Sabertooth bastards.

"Hello, I'm Lucy and I'll be your server today! Can I get you anything to drink?"


	2. Story Time

Lucy managed not to make a fuss for the rest of the day, but she can't say the same about her co-workers. Natsu started a kitchen fire (Again). Gray kept serving up cold food. Wendy, another employee's cousin, broke four dishes when she tripped and was restricted to taking orders, for the fourth time this month. Silverware mysteriously went missing when Gajeel, another server, was around. Jet hovered over people, waiting for them to finish their food and Droy kept serving raw vegetables to customers. Cana was sneaking booze and Loke was flirting and Levy was reading instead of paying attention to patrons. This happened everyday, but no one seemed to mind. Fairy Tail had good food and most customers actually found the mishaps endearing and amusing rather than irritating and annoying.

Unconsciously, a smile spread across Lucy's face as she thought about her quirky co-workers. That smile dissipated when her phone started to buzz though. After checking the caller ID, the corners of Lucy's mouth turned into a grimace as she braced herself for being yelled at. He only called to yell at her or tell her she was doing something wrong, often both. Holding the phone gingerly away from her ear, she took the call.

"Blondie! Why the fuck did you leave the fucking café? You dumbass, piece of shit, blonde! We are leaving for a fucking cater in fucking fifteen minutes!" Lucy couldn't help but flinch away from the phone as Sting continued to rant.

"Got it!" She said, cutting him off and pressing the 'call end' button.

Checking the time, Lucy turned on her heel and briskly started to walk towards the café. _5: 45_, she thought, _if we leave for the cater at six and it takes me twenty-five minutes to get there..._ Lucy set off at a jog, her heels clicking against the cement as she turned the corner.

Sting stared at his phone, wordless rage filling him.

_Call ended._

He turned to his best friend and picked up his rant where he had left off.

"That stupid ass blonde! Why did she leave this dumb café anyway? I mean, I can understand why someone would have to get out of this hell hole, but she get's paid for this right? She's just so stupid sometimes..."

Rogue just nodded as him friend continued on, he knew that Sting could be at this for hours.

"What'cha drawing, Rufus?" Ogra asked the man sitting on the grass.

Rufus looked up from his drawing, blinked at the lofty man who towered over him, and turned back to his drawing. Orga leaned closer toward the van, trying desperately to see the smaller man's sketchbook. In response, Rufus shrunk farther against the van, titling the book up so that Ogra could not see what was on paper. Ogra gave up after a moment and sighed, content for the moment just leaning against the van before he started up his story, "So, I was sitting in a pub one day when this man walked in and proclaimed, 'Orga! I challenge you to a duel!... Of chess!'..."

Lucy checked the time as the café came into view. _5: 59_. She took off at a run, knowing Sting would yell at her till she dropped dead is she was even a second late. When Lucy was able to see the catering van, her heart skipped a beat. The entire Sabertooth gang was standing outside. Orga lounged against the van, talking expressively to Rufus, who was sitting on the ground, drawing. Sting was ranting to an impassive Rogue, who just nodded every once in a while. Worst of all, Minerva emerged from behind the van, a cigarette dangling from her long fingers.

Just as Lucy was wondering what was missing, two figures appeared in front of her and she barely stifled a scream.

"Fro found Lucy-san!" A green haired girl said, the pink frog eyes on her hoodie bouncing crazily as she clapped her hands in joy.

"Come on, stupid fairy!" A red haired boy said, catching Lucy by the wrist and yanking her along, "You've made the great Sting wait far too long!"

"Fro waited too!" The girl chirped, following Lucy and the boy, the frog eyes still bouncing.

Lucy couldn't help but smile down at the 16-year-old girl as she tried to calm her own rapid heart, "Hello, Froch! How are you?"

Fro was about to reply went a harsh yank from the boy sent pain jolting through Lucy arm. Lucy turned to him, "You don't have to pull so hard, Lector! I was on my way and I can walk on my own!"

The Sabertooth gang looked up as Lucy approached them, flanked by Fro and Lector. Sting frowned at her, "Finally you slut! Took you long enough to get here!" He pushed her into the back of the van as the rest of Sabertooth filed in after her.

"Hey! I haven't changed yet!" Lucy protested as they started to pull away from Fairy Tail.

Sting smirked, "Go ahead, change. We won't look."

Lucy glared at him, "Okay, close your eyes and if I catch one of you peeking, you will be lying dead in the gutter tomorrow morning." She turned around and dug through her bag for her uniform.

She quickly undressed and changed into her waitressing outfit, checking over her shoulder every few moments to make sure everyone kept their eyes closed. As she tied the bow in her hair, she turned around and pronounced, "Okay! You can open your eyes now."

As Sting opened her eyes, he smirked, "Finally, took you long enough! Oh! And by the way, nice pink panties."

A fierce blush spread across Lucy's face as she marched over to Sting, "You perverted bastard!"

_SLAP!_

A red mark slowly appeared on Sting's cheek as she stomped away to the other side of the van, pulling a book out of her bag so she could block out the idiots in the van with her.

Sting leaned closed to Rogue and told him a very important secret, "I was actually only guessing."

A slow smile spread across Rogue's face as he learned about his friend's secret, "Of _course_ you were."

Lucy sat in the corner, fuming about the bumbling idiots that she was forced to work with. They made her so irate, she couldn't even concentrate on her book. Getting frustrated, she threw the book bag into her bag and crossed her arms angrily, glaring at the silverware on the tray near her.

"Are you trying to melt the silverware with your eyes? I'm afraid I don't think anyone can do that." Sting called out teasingly from the other side of the van.

Lucy picked up her book at threw it at him and burst into laughter as it hit him square in the face. Ogra and Rogue were containing grins as well as Sting picked the book up from the floor and placed it on the bench next to him. He slowly got up, brushed off his pants and made his way toward Lucy. He was beyond angry.

"That is the second time you have hit me in the face today, Miss Lucy Heartphilia, and I not take kindly to being hit." He said through gritted teeth.

Yanking Lucy up by her hair, Sting pulled her up to face him. Lucy yelped as she tried to support herself, anything to let up the pain in her scalp. Sting looked at her and brought his hand up to hit her. Lucy cringed and prepared herself for the blow, but what happened next completely surprised her. She felt a hand grab her breast and squeeze it. Lucy's eyes shot open to see Sting doubled over with laughter, having already retreated to the other side of the van.

Rage boiled up inside her as she marched over to where Sting was laughing his ass off.

"Did you think that was fucking funny?!" She fumed, clenching her fists in anger.

Sting giggled, "Ohhh! Blondie swore!"

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't as she fell over. She tumbled into Rogue as the van screeched to a halt. Rufus pulled open the doors to the back and smiled a bit.

"Lucy. Rogue. Save that kind of stuff for after work."

Lucy blushed furiously as she climbed off of where she had fell on Rogue. "I just fell on him!"

"Sure you did!" Rufus joked, laughing as he started unpacking the catering things.

Lucy picked up a small cooler and put a case of napkins on top of it, "Stop being so sarcastic! It's the truth!" she called after him as she followed Rufus up to the house.

The rest of the servers followed in suit, all helping bring food and supplies up to the large mansion. The house loomed above them, looking imposing with tall, pale brick walls and wrought iron gates all about. The setting sun was sliding behind the green-roofed fortress, covering the grounds in shadow. Battlements stuck up in the back, looking down upon the estate and the surrounding neighborhood, though Lucy didn't have a clue why someone would need battlements.

It took several trips to get all of the food into the kitchen, where the servers had to walk down a small, narrow flight of stairs carrying a large cooler, then into a tiny door, and into the small, cramped kitchen. Fairy Tail (Well, Sabertooth and one Fairy) soon realized that in order to actually bring the food to the guests, they had to walk up a flight of stairs and through a door that almost melded into the wall. When Ogra saw it, he joked that it was probably a servant kitchen and the original owners of the house didn't want anyone to actually know where their food was coming from.

When they had finally moved all the food and supplies into the kitchen, Lucy leaned against the wall and asked, "Whose all this stuff for anyway?"

Minerva, who had done nothing but sit in the kitchen while everyone had been transporting the goods from the van to the kitchen, picked up a clipboard and flipped through it, "Jose Porla."

Lucy froze, "Jo-jose P-porla?"

Sabertooth turned to Lucy only to see her as white as a sheet and her hand over her heart, "Is-isn't he is prison?" She choked out.

Ogra shook his head, "He was never in prison, Lucy. Why would he be?"

"H-he should've been ch-charged with destruction of property and a-assault!" Lucy stammered out, her hands dropping from where they had been clenching her shirt.

Ogra raised an eyebrow, "Assault? Destruction of property? Where the heck is this coming from, Lucy? Are you sure you're feeling well?"

He moved toward Lucy and attempted to put his hand to her forehead, but she slapped it away, "No! I'm sure of it! Back before we all disappeared!"

Sting smirked, "Tell us then, what 'happened'?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice and he put air quotes around happened.

Lucy glared at him, but her brown eyes softened as she started to recall the tale, "I had only been an employee at Fairy Tail for a few weeks when...


End file.
